Nevada Health Link shows 41,823 people have chosen health plan

Final numbers from the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange show a flurry of private plan selections in the last days of open enrollment.

The exchange’s Nevada Health Link reported that 41,823 Nevadans had chosen a qualified health plan as of Tuesday. Of those consumers, 25,899 had paid for their coverage.

Consumers aren’t considered enrolled until they pay for a plan.

The number of plan selections was up nearly 9,000 from 33,053 on March 15, the exchange’s numbers show, while the number who actually paid went up about 3,500, from 22,533 to 25,899.

Several enrollment-counseling and navigator firms held last-minute sign-up pushes over the weekend in an attempt to get more consumers into the system.

The exchange had initially set a paid-enrollment goal of 118,000, but later reduced that target to 50,000.

It also set a special-enrollment period for people who tried to sign up for coverage through Nevada Health Link’s flawed website, but who couldn’t close the deal because they ran into technical trouble. The special enrollment period runs through May 30.

The next open-enrollment session is scheduled to run from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15. Consumers will need to have a qualifying life event, such as a birth, marriage, divorce or job change, to buy coverage before then.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512. Follow @J_Robison1 on Twitter.